Fishslap's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Gateway]

Didn't make full use of its features

The tutorial took up about half the game it felt like, and I can't remember actually using the item merging thing when actually playing. The puzzles were pretty cool though, I liked the TV watching bit in particular, though the lights was a bit confusing.

The general feel of this game is what stops it getting a 9; the game always felt industrial and never looked like it was trying to make you have fun, and the sound in particular reflected this. Could have been made with character but it just never really looks like it cares about you enjoying it. It is there to occupy time, not to be a real adventure.

[Four Second Firestorm]

These get worse each time

Once again, the games almost always feel like they aren't designed to be understood and played in 4 seconds. Sadly this time there are absolutely none that I feel really stand out, and the mouse games in particular are very rarely more than terrible. It's a shame to see the only games that work are usually just slamming opposite arrow keys, because they're the only ones that have been timed to be done in 3 seconds (with 1 second to understand them).
The graphics are good, the sound is good, just the artists need to understand what can and can't be understood in 4 seconds.

[Fordy's Pong]

Pfft

If you're making a serious game, odds are it'll take a bit longer than a couple of lunches. If it's a practise, fine, but there's no need to submit it to NG.

Needs a hell of a lot added; better graphics, better physics, more intelligent AI that's prone to mistakes, faster gameplay, and the list goes on. I saw it get smaller and such, but the fact I could do no more than watch it bounce back from my paddle with no possibility of me hitting it to an area they can't get at a different speed or anything made this really irritating.

shadowford responds:

the ai is prone to mitakes. He can lose often. If the ball didn't speed up or get smaller, the game would never end until YOU lost.

[HK Mobs]

For an old game...

For a rather old game, it's pretty awesome. Obviously, by today's standards we want combos and stuff, but before anyone had really coded intricate games game the pioneers like this. The graphics are good for today's standard even, very stylised. As far as old games go, this is one of the best.

[Chaos Faction]

Great

Very time consuming and fun. There's a lot of depth, and the skill involved to win is more than just button bashing. The art is superb, sound is mostly good, and there's a little humor too. Style is largely personal opinion, but I reckon it has an awful lot of it.

[Adrenaline Challenge!]

Time playing: 55:22

After completing every level and getting every single challenge time, I think I ought to write a review.

Good coding, glitch free as far as I can see, so interactivity 10.
Graphics do the job, but the terrain graphics sucks, so 7 there.
Sound is pretty annoying...
No real violence or humor to speak of.

Generally, through its proffessionality, it lacks any real character as a game, but it's still pretty good.

Oh, and the final level's challenge reward is an indestructable zombie if anyone wanted to know.

[Four Second Frenzy]

Dowhatnow?

26 artists. Sadly, each flash artist is trying to make their game the standout game, and expect you to know which control will do what. Save the happies is the worst case of this syndrome, because you have to know the controls and execute them without a second to lose, and along with that it requires skill. The take a photo game also expects you to already know what you're doing as well, which is a pity. Some games were simply too hard (like the one where you're in a circle with stars randomly flying at you), while others were made by people that fail to realise that the balanced difficulty level is what makes the game fun, rather than the winning (like mow the grass).
The instructions tell almost nothing of what actually to do (I still haven't a clue how to fill the damn balloon after at least four tries).

This would be at half the points if it weren't for some magical games in the sprawl; the avoid the lines game is cleanly drawn, requires skill, but is not so hard you will be struggling to do it. Sadly, I can only think of one other game that also hits the magic middle (the spaceship one).
What most of the artist here have failed to grasp is that their game must be beatable first try, while others have simly fallen off the other end.

All in all, quite a mess of a game. If you plan on doing a collab again, I would recommend mailing developers you think may want to contribute (and will do well) rather than allow anyone in and be forced to accept things on the borderline of fun en masse.

[Driving Train v1.0]

Nicely done, simply lacking vitals

Good choice of music, nicely drawn graphics, and that's the end of it. There is no indication of your score, the code system sucks (it should at least be the code for the next level, not the previous one), and the collision detection is simply terrible. The physics are nice though.

But get that collision detection sorted, it makes the game not only not fun, but actively unfun.
There are tutorials for it on NG, even (find a thread in flash with AS: in it's title and click the link to AS: Main if it's provided. Find it from there).

[Brainbots]

xD

Gotta love how the previous reviewer thought it needed to be original. I think it's one of the most original things I've ever seen, and was very playable too. The graphics are ace, and as the only issue is the difficulty curve, it gets a well deserved 9 from me.

[Pico's School remake]

The original was better

The original was way better, this game was boring, and only made things worse. The graphics may be better than the actual one, but what the hell should that mean? The movements, the bosses, the inventory, they were simply broken. I'd much rather play the original. There wasn't anything original added either like you'd hope. Remember, if something isn't broken, don't fix it.